June 22, 2010

From the Garden

Ok Norma, if you insist, I'll blog about the harvest of beets and onions Smith brought home from the garden. He's been working hard and we've enjoyed the rewards of fresh lettuce (many times over), radishes, beets, and onions (so far). Not surprisingly, we're learning as we go and next year we'll know better how and where to plant the vegetables we love. This is the second harvest of beets and when I told Norma we were a little nervous to plant more, she said to "go for it". Hopefully this won't be our last crop because we love fresh beets!

Since we had fresh onions as well, I looked around for a recipe that would work with both and found this recipe. Plus, we had to use the added bonus of fresh beet greens, so I found this recipe. The dish was so good we had it two nights in a row!

Re: the greens. I don't bother with the blanching stuff - simply wash/rinse, shake off excess water and into the saute pan with the yummy olive oil and some garlic. If the stems are long, chop 'em and give them a bit of a head start in the pan. One fewer pot and one step closer to dinner!

I blame you, Norma, & Anne Hanson because one of the things I'm looking for in a new house is a good spot to garden. I'm thrilled with my herbs & lavender, but at the next place I'm going to grow food too.

I had a lovely dinner with a fresh, tasty salad from my friend's mom's garden last Saturday. Then we all went out and spent a good half an hour in the garden, picking what was left of the peas, the first wave of raspberries (I'm shocked, too) and imagining what to do with the potatoes, melons, cukes, tomatoes and onions coming up. His beets aren't ready yet, but yours look just right!